1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floating recreational device comprising a cage generally defining the surface of a sphere, and which is occupied by a person. The device is propelled from within by rotation while on the water surface by the occupant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Floating, occupied recreational devices for occupancy by a person are known in the prior art. Two examples of the skeleton frame type are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,675,259, issued to David W. Gilchrist on Jul. 11, 1972, and 4,579,336, issued to Dennis Morin on Apr. 1, 1986. The device of Gilchrist '259 includes straight external frame members joined together at hubs. While generally spherical in configuration, the impression is of a sphere having adjacent flat, planar facets. In one embodiment, buoyancy is provided by forming the structural frame members from hollow, air filled members, which air filled members may be inflatable.
It should be noted that the device of Gilchrist '259 has screens or similar panels partly sealing the otherwise open facets between skeleton frame members. These screens have openings which can pass water and air therethrough, but which do not permit a person to enter and exit. In this sense, the device is not open.
Morin '336 provides a cage formed by hoops, so that individual frame members follow the spherical external contour. Morin's device features a bar disposed along a diameter, which bar serves as an axle to which a seat is attached. The seat depends from the bar, so that gravity causes the seat to maintain upright orientation, except during violent maneuvering. Intended for rolling down an incline on solid ground, the Morin device has braking and steering abilities.
German Patent Document No. DT 2624291, dated Dec. 15, 1977, discloses a hollow, essentially spherical device for occupancy by a person while on a water surface. The sphere is made up from two semispherical members hinged together in clamshell fashion. An inside running surface is textured to enable a user to gain a foothold. The external surface is textured to engage the water to enable propulsion. The external boundary of the sphere is sealed, so that the interior is enclosed and watertight. In this device, and others having full or partial sealing of the interior, the walls may tend to act as sails, imparting force from the wind so as to possibly counteract the direction chosen by the user when propelling the device.
French Patent Document No. 2,356,554, dated Jan. 27, 1978, discloses an open, recreational water wheel. The overall configuration is that of a disc, there being two parallel, spaced apart rings connected in treadmill or squirrel cage fashion by rungs bridging the gap between the rings. Each rung straps at each end to one ring, a strap encircling the ring. A user is exposed to the water at openings located between adjacent rungs and at the larger opening of each ring.
A large cylindrical recreational device is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,290, issued to Arthur F. Finn on May 23, 1972. The cylinder is of variable diameter, greatest in the middle of the cylinder, in the manner of a wooden barrel, and open at both ends of the cylinder. There are fins or paddles periodically disposed about the external surface of the device for improvement of engagement of water, to assist propulsion. A person stands inside the device and walks or runs, thus turning the device in the manner of a squirrel cage.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.